Printing machine



June 17,1941. s, B, STAFFORD 55f 2,245,617

PRINTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 15, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Zhmentor Shep/re n B. 5+0 Ho r-o if BB 'Uiiness I v v dnomql Herberifiovey and Herman A.Smifh Jun 17., 1941. s. B. STAFFORD Em "2,245,617

.PRINTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 13,1939

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 n; t r Sfephen asfi rd and Herman A Smi'fh,

m (.Ittomeg Patented June 17, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE 1 Y f 2,245,6 7 v r PRINTING MACHINE Stephen B; Stafford, o fbra, and Herman A.

Smith, Holden, Mass.,' assign'ors to Rice Barton Corporation, a corporation of Massachusetts Application September 13, 1939,.SerialNo. 294,592

2 Claims; o1. 1014212) This invention relates to a printing machine and more particularly to a machine having a printing roll and a backing cylinder between which fabric or other material to be printed is held during the printing operation.

Textile printing machines which are used for printing designs in one or more colors onlong strips of fabric usually comprise a backingcylinder around which the fabric is passed, together with a backgraycloth and a blanket. blanket may comprise an endless sheet of rubber or other suitable material interposed between the fabric to be printed and the cylinder. The backgray cloth travels with the fabric to be printed and is located between the fabric and the blanket so as to absorb any excess of ink that may pass through or around the edges of the fabric. The printing is accomplished by means of one or several printing rolls which may cornprise a copper intaglio cylinder suitably mounted on a steel mandrel. It is necessary to replace the rubber blanket as well as the backgray cloth frequently, and for this purpose provision may be made for lifting the backing cylinder from'its normal position where it holds the fabric against the printing roll. Furthermore, the cylinder is customarily provided with alapping of many lay- .ers of cloth wound thereabout and secured in place to provide a resilient or elastic backing against which the fabric-may be pressed-during the printing operation. For the purpose of applying this :Iapping to the cylinder as well as for making various adjustments, it. is often necessary that this massive cylinder be turned manually or without the use of the power driving mechanism.

This cylinder, in fact, is customarily mounted for free rotation under the frictional driving action of the printing roll and isnot turned directly by power. V The primary object'of this invention is toprovide a printing machine which is so. constructed and arranged that the backing cylinder may be either rotated manually or moved awayfrom its contactor association with the printing roll. Further objects will be apparent in the following disclosure.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention:

Fig- 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of a portion of the textile printing machine which embodies the lifting and rotating mechanism;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation, with parts broken away, showing the lifting mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a detail showing the manner of roe tating the cylinder; 1

The

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Fig. 4 is a detail showing a modified lifting and rotating mechanism applied to a cylinder; and- Fig.5 is a'sectional view. of the lifting mechanismof Fig. 4. v s 1 In accordance with this invention, we provide a printing machine'having a frame within which is rotatably mounted one or more. printing rolls and a. backing cylinder/for printing fabric or other material. The cylinder is so'mounted on bearings that it may be rotated or it may. be

liftedon otherwise moved radially away from the printing. roll. .Thisgradial movement is prefer, ably accomplished. by a hoisting device. so arranged andlocated on the printing machine,- frame vthatclampingor gripping members may directly engage the cylinder near its periphery and thus may be, used either for moving the cylinder radially or for rotating it Within, its bearings. The hoist may comprise a manually operable devicehaving a chain or other flexible member connectiblewith each flan ev on the cylinder,.;.or it, may comprise other suitable construction, su ch as a strap or band adapted to be placed around the cylinder and clamped tightly thereagainst for accomplishing both purposes. The textile printing machine may comprise a printing vroll i0, and a backing cylinder l2 between which the fabric IA is printed. A backgray cloth I5, and an endless rubber blanket [6 may be interposed betweenthe fabric I4 and the ylind r f The co e n in r v ay be mounted on a mandrel l8 in suitable bearings and arranged tobe held under pressure by means of a slidable bearing block 211 slidably mounted in ways Zl on the machine frame and adjustable towards; the cylinder by the screw 22, as is customary in the industry. An inking roll 24 carrying ink from a reservoir 25 may serve to apply ink to the printing roll. The printing'roll IQ is driven through gears gfi and 21 to which power is suitably.applied,- and the, frictional pressure of the printing roll [0- serves to rotate the cylinder l2. The cylinder may comprise end walls 28 or spiders carrying the peripheral or cylindrical wall, and the latter projects beyond the end Walls to provide flanges which are engageable with the hoistin clamp r n s- The, shaft; 30 carrying the end walls of the cylinder I 2- is suitably mounted in bearing blocks 32 which are slidably positioned so that the cylind'er and its bearings may be moved vertically. The construction illustrated in the drawings, as is more fully set forth and claimed in our cope'nding, application Serial No. 280,560 filed June 22, 19.39, comprises two side frame members 34 and 36 which have vertical guides or slide ways therein within which the bearing blocks 32 may move. The righthand frame member 36 has a vertical slot between the two guide walls 38 (Fig. 2) which serve as slides for the bearing blocks and hold them in position. The guideway in the lefthand frame 34 is formed as an S-shaped part which permits the lefthand bearing block to move upwardly and out of contact with the side frames to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1. This permits an endless blanket to be properly assembled around the end of the bearing. During normal operation of the machine, a pair of removable cross bars 40 suitably mounted in slots within the framework serve in association with adjusting screws 42 to hold the bearing blocks down in their proper positions against the pressure of the printing roll It. The construction as so far described may be otherwise suitably arranged and built to satisfy the printing requirements.

In accordance with our invention, we provide mechanism which serves to raise the cylinder I2 vertically or to rotate it within its bearings while the latter are properly supported. To this end, we provide a chain or other type of hoist which is so arranged and mounted on the framework of the machine that clamping or gripping members may engage the cylinder I2 near its periphery instead of connecting with the shaft 30 which supports that cylinder. This has twofold advantage in that it provides more space at the lefthand end of the machine '(Fig. l) for assembling the blanket and in that it serves both to lift the cylinder or to rotate the same as may be desired. 7

The form of hoisting device shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive comprises a shaft 50 mounted in suitable bearings 51 on the tops of the two side frame members 34 and 33. On the righthand end of that shaft is a worm wheel 52 meshing with a worm 54 on a short shaft 56. This short shaft is carried in suitable bearings 51 and 58 mounted within a housing 59 surrounding the worm gear and worm and in turn supported on the frame member 36. A hand wheel 60 serves to rotate the shaft when desired. Two pulley blocks 62 are keyed to the shaft 50 and chains or other flexible supporting members 64 are secured to pins 65 on the peripheries of these pulley blocks so that when the hand wheel is rotated the chains will be wound on these blocks. The lower ends of the two chains carry hooks 66 which are so shaped and located that their lower hooked ends 61 will engage and hook into a continuous groove or a series of sockets formed on the inside of the penipheral flange at the end of the cylinder. As shown in Fig. l, we may provide the flange with an endless undercut groove 68; or, as shown in Fig. 2, we may utilize a series of spaced pockets 69 formed in the end wall or the under side of the periphenal wall of the cylinder.

The chains 64 and their supports 52 are so located that the hooks 66 will engage properly or a greater angular distance but without directly rotating the power mechanism which drives the printing roll. This is easily accomplished by having the chain 64 long enough so that the hook 66 may engage the lower portion of the periphery of the cylinder l2. Hence, when the hand wheel is rotated to wind up the chain and provide the necessary traction, this provides a turning moment that will rotate the cylinder l2 as required.

Various modified constructions may be employed for the purpose of lifting and rotating the cylinder. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, we may employ a band or strap 10 which is flexible and adapted to be placed around the periphery of the cylinder in a desired location and thus serve as a supporting loop which will lift the cylinder. For the purpose of rotating the cylinder as well as lifting it, it is desirable that the strap make a tight or frictional engagement with the periphery of the cylinder. One suitable form for this purpose comprises the toggle device shown in Figs. 4 and 5 which is so constructed and arranged that when force is applied to the sustaining cable 12 which passes over and connects with the drum B2 of the hoist mechanism, the strap will be tightened against the periphery of the drum. This toggle may comprise two spaced plates 14 having three pins 15, I6 and H which have heads at one end and are screw threaded at the other and are arranged to be threaded into the plates to hold them in position. The band 10 surrounding the cylinder is connected to the center pin 16 and one of the end pins 15 while the chain or flexible cable 12 is connected to the other pin 16. These connections may be made by merely bending the ends of the strap 10 around the pins and riveting them in place. The flexible member 12 may have an eyelet 18 surrounding the pin 16. The flexible strap or straps I0 which surround the cylinder may be used for lifting the cylinder directly by positioning the toggle supporting member at the top of the cylinder. But, if it is desired to rotate the cylinder, then the parts may be arranged as shown in Fig. 4 whereby the tensional pull on the member 12 will serve to tighten the strap 10 about the cylinder and at the same time rotate the cylinder as required.

It will be appreciated that many types of constructional features may be employed for our purposes and that many modifications of the present invention may be used. Hence, the above description is to be considered as illustrating the principles of the invention "and our preferred embodiments thereof but without limiting the invention to the constructions illustrated except as is specified in the claims appended hereto. The movable bearing and frame construction herein described is claimed in our copending application Serial No. 280,560, filed June 22, 1939 We claim:

1. A printing machine comprising a printing roll, a backing cylinder having a, cylindrical portion engageable with said roll, movable bearings for the cylinder, means comprising a pair of side frames for supporting said bearings and providing for vertical movement of the cylinder and its bearings to free one of the bearings from the frame, and a hoisting device spaced from the cylinder having means removably engageable with said portion of the cylinder for rotating and lifting the cylinder, said parts being so constructed and arranged that an endless blanket may be partly inserted around one of the lifted cylinder bearings and into the space bounded by the frame, the end of the cylinder and the hoisting device.

2. A printing machine comprising a printing roll, a backing cylinder having a peripheral rim portion at each end, movable bearings for the cylinder, means comprising side frames for supporting said bearings and providing for vertical movement of the cylinder and its bearings to free one of the bearings from the frame, and a 10 

